Equipment for upcoming Live-aboard

[TJcop]

I'm going on an Aquacat Live-Aboard this October (Exuma Islands), and I wanted to pick up a fiew pieces of equip. Let me know what you think.

Lights: For my night-dives, I wanted to pick up the UK Sunlight C8 eLED ($74.95), and the Lazer Stik (constant on $9.95) for my tank.

Gloves: I'm not a toucher...but I thought some thin reef gloves might come in "handy" Oh man, I didn't even intend on that one! Anyways, what about the Tilos 1.5mm Reef Glove ($14.95)?

Does anyone recommend a diver alert or safety sausage? What about a tank banger, since we are diving in groups? This is my first live-aboard and group diving event, so I just want to follow "proper" ettiquite. Thanks!

 

[cinder4320]

I'm just curious as to the group diving aspect. Are you going with a group and want to group dive or does Aquacat not allow just plain buddy diving? I dove Blackbeard's and although we were all getting in at around the same time it was definetly only buddy diving.
Miranda

 

[TJcop]

I guess when I said "group dive" I may have been misleading. I was just trying to be respectful to the other divers that may be in the water from our boat (the "group"). Yeah, it's still buddy-ing up, sorry for the confusion.

 

[cinder4320]

Ahh... gotcha. I just wanted to be sure you didn't all have to ascend when one hit a certain PSI or something. Glad to hear its not like that!! Sounds like fun. I loved our liveaboard.

Gloves are great for the lines, especially on night dives where I tend to hold on to ascend/descend. I would also never dive in the ocean without a safety sausage. They are great for if you miss the boat and have to flag down the zodiak to pick you up. We had a buddy pair do that on our trip and even with a mild current they came up pretty far away. Personally I think you should be close enough to your buddy to never need a tank banger. I bought one a long time ago and thought it was "neat" but it hasn't seen water. I don't have a dive alert but have considered one. For now though a safety sausage and whistle do the job.


Miranda

 

[JRScuba]

I personallly like the Hammerhead horn by Dive Alert. It is good above and below
the water. It is great for getting someone attention when you want to show them
something. It also comes in handy it you get into trouble.


Here is their web site: http://www.divealert.com/hammerhead.html

 

[djanni]

I'm going on an Aquacat Live-Aboard this October (Exuma Islands), and I wanted to pick up a fiew pieces of equip. Let me know what you think.

Never done the Aquacat but wanted to this year. Nice cat. Post a report. Our timing was bad so we're doing the Nekton Bahamas in August. Nekton Belize last yr.

Lights: For my night-dives, I wanted to pick up the UK Sunlight C8 eLED ($74.95), and the Lazer Stik (constant on $9.95) for my tank.

For night dives - Sounds reasonable for a main torch but get a smaller backup. I like the Princton Tek Shockwave LED better. It's got a white hot bright light. You can burn holes in the coral if your not careful. I suppose the Lazer Stik is good as anything. I have a Princton eco flare which is pretty cool.

Gloves: I'm not a toucher...but I thought some thin reef gloves might come in "handy" Oh man, I didn't even intend on that one! Anyways, what about the Tilos 1.5mm Reef Glove ($14.95)?

For me, if gloves are allowed I wear them.

Does anyone recommend a diver alert or safety sausage? What about a tank banger, since we are diving in groups? This is my first live-aboard and group diving event, so I just want to follow "proper" ettiquite. Thanks!

A sausage is allways attached to my bc. Permanate fixture. We also have dive alerts. If the boat is tied off we might not use them but ususally we do. It's one of those better safe than sorry things. If any drift diving we will have SMB's, whistles, dive alerts and mirrors. Tank bangers, at least for me and my wife are useless if wearing a hood and she frequently does. A hammerhead works better a close range. Best is the old knife on the tank thing if you like to carry a BIG knife.

 

[TJcop]

Thanks for the tips!

Don: The PT Shockwave was my other choice. I still may go for that one, let's see if anyone else offers an opinion.

Regarding the gloves; I'd like to get a nice pair, but fear the scorn of other divers. Personally, I think some divers should just worry about themselves instead of making sure to comment on what someone else is wearing, or what kind of equip. I just read another post of a diver on a trip that had a bunch of funny looks as he put on his reef gloves...only to be put at ease as 1 other diver put on some gloves too.

We will have some drift dives, so I guess the alert and SS seem to be pretty much standard.

 

[Guba]

Quote: "To thy own self be true..."

Who cares what the "other divers" think about you wearing gloves? They're YOUR hands, and this ain't no fashion show. If they're allowed and you are more comfortable in gloves, wear them. On my trips to the Gulf of Mexico (Flower Gardens), we descend on permanent mooring lines. Gloves are a must, since a lot of little critters (most with sharp shells or stinging cells) make their homes on those lines. Un-gloved hands would be cut to ribbons. Even if that weren't the case, there is always the chance encounters with tiny jellies to contend with. In short, gloves are a good idea.
Make it a practice to always carry a sausage and at least a whistle. Not a bad idea to attach at least fifteen feet of line to the sausage so that it can be deployed from safety stop depth for those times when you need to do your stop as a free hang. Be sure to practice the deployment before your trip. It's best to be familiar with the process well before you actually need it. The advice to have a second light is a good one, too.
Have fun and be sure to come back with a trip report for us!

 

[Darnold9999]

Re tank banger, thought this was a bad idea until my buddy on the last trip had one.

Three or more bangs means "pay attention right now" used only once - school of dolphins approaching and I was facing exactly the wrong way focusing on something else, wondering what that odd sound I was hearing was. Allowed me to get turned around and be facing the right way as this dolphin came directly at me - less than 2 feet away face to face. Awesome - almost a great picture, but he was moving way to fast for my autofocus to work. Got an out of focus beak and an in focus pectoral fin .

They only stayed a couple of minutes. I would have missed out the best part if he had had to swim even 10 feet to get my attention. He also alerted every diver within 100 feet that something was up - impossible to do any other way.

The tank banger allowed us to be further apart and in touch as well. We were both taking pictures so not as attentive to each other as we perhaps should have been. However the audible signals worked very well. One for "this is interesting come look when you get a minute", two for "this is really interesting come have a look". Three for "drop whatever you are doing and pay attention right now" could be an emergency.

Lots of people look down their noses at them - "you should be beside your buddy and be aware at all times". However, when taking pictures I found that I could trust my buddy to keep in touch with his tank banger. I had to make do banging with a snap bolt. Not a great tool in low vis, as it is non directional, but in good vis woked for us.

 

[Kwbyron]

My instructor told us about the best tank banger out there... he called it a rock. works really well and is really cheep. I also have a metal nut that holds the handle onto the tounge of my knife, that works well too. He always had smart @$$ comments on some of the gadgets sold in LDS's...but he still wore his fins from his cert. class, old school diver. "If you make fun of my fins, you fail the class." they looked like duck feet. The Lazer Stik , is that a tank marker for night dives? my buddy got talked into buying this blinking one...was a piece of junk, put out enough light to be able to see it from 5' that's about it... we ended up leaving on shore and using chem. glow sticks.